Find revision tips and learn revision skills from motivational speaker Lee Jackson. It may seem like there’s no light at the end of the exam tunnel, but Lee has one key message to keep you focused: Keep on going.

Find revision tips and learn revision skills from motivational speaker Lee Jackson. Learn how to maximise your chances of success right up until the day of the exam with these last minute pieces of advice.

Find revision tips and learn revision skills from motivational speaker Lee Jackson. One of the most difficult things to get to grips with during study leave is learning to revise. Lee has some top tips and strategies to make sure that you use your time effectively.

For years, Finland has been the by-word for a successful education system, perched at the top of international league tables for literacy and numeracy.

Only far eastern countries such as Singapore and China outperform the Nordic nation in the influential Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings. Politicians and education experts from around the world – including the UK – have made pilgrimages to Helsinki in the hope of identifying and replicating the secret of its success.Which makes it all the more remarkable that Finland is about to embark on one of the most radical education reform programmes ever undertaken by a nation state – scrapping traditional “teaching by subject” in favour of “teaching by topic”.“This is going to be a big change in education in Finland that we’re just beginning,” said Liisa Pohjolainen, who is in charge of youth and adult education in Helsinki – the capital city at the forefront of the reform programme.Pasi Silander, the city’s development manager, explained: “What we need now is a different kind of education to prepare people for working life.“Young people use quite advanced computers.

In the past the banks had lots of bank clerks totting up figures but now that has totally changed.“We therefore have to make the changes in education that are necessary for industry and modern society.”Subject-specific lessons – an hour of history in the morning, an hour of geography in the afternoon – are already being phased out for 16-year-olds in the city’s upper schools. They are being replaced by what the Finns call “phenomenon” teaching – or teaching by topic. For instance, a teenager studying a vocational course might take “cafeteria services” lessons, which would include elements of maths, languages (to help serve foreign customers), writing skills and communication skills.More academic pupils would be taught cross-subject topics such as the European Union – which would merge elements of economics, history (of the countries involved), languages and geography.

There are other changes too, not least to the traditional format that sees rows of pupils sitting passively in front of their teacher, listening to lessons or waiting to be questioned. Instead there will be a more collaborative approach, with pupils working in smaller groups to solve problems while improving their communication skills.Marjo Kyllonen, Helsinki’s education manager – who will be presenting her blueprint for change to the council at the end of this month, said: “It is not only Helsinki but the whole of Finland who will be embracing change.“We really need a rethinking of education and a redesigning of our system, so it prepares our children for the future with the skills that are needed for today and tomorrow.“There are schools that are teaching in the old fashioned way which was of benefit in the beginnings of the 1900s – but the needs are not the same and we need something fit for the 21st century.”The reforms reflect growing calls in the UK – not least from the Confederation of British Industry and Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt – for education to promote character, resilience and communication skills, rather than just pushing children through “exam factories”.

But there would currently be little appetite in the UK for going as far as ditching traditional subjects. Even in Finland, the reforms have met objections from teachers and heads – many of whom have spent their lives focusing on a particular subject only to be told to change their approach.Ms Kyllonen has been advocating a “co-teaching” approach to lesson planning, with input from more than one subject specialist. Teachers who embrace this new system can receive a small top-up in salary.About 70 per cent of the city’s high school teachers have now been trained in adopting the new approach, according to Mr Silander.“We have really changed the mindset,” he said. “It is quite difficult to get teachers to start and take the first step… but teachers who have taken to the new approach say they can’t go back.”Early data shows that students are benefiting too. In the two years since the new teaching methods first began being introduced, pupil “outcomes” – they prefer that word to standards – have improved.Finnish schools are obliged to introduce a period of “phenomenon-based teaching” at least once a year.

These projects can last several weeks. In Helsinki, they are pushing the reforms at a faster pace with schools encouraged to set aside two periods during the year for adopting the new approach. Ms Kyllonen’s blueprint, to be published later this month, envisages the reforms will be in place across all Finnish schools by 2020.Meanwhile, the pre-school sector is also embracing change through an innovative project, the Playful Learning Centre, which is engaged in discussions with the computer games industry about how it could help introduce a more “playful” learning approach to younger children.“We would like to make Finland the leading country in terms of playful solutions to children’s learning,” said Olavi Mentanen, director of the PLC project,The eyes of the education world will be upon Finland as it opts for change: will it be able to retain or improve its showing in the PISA league tables published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.If it does, how will the rest of the education world react?Case study: Finnish approachIt is an English lesson, but there is a map of continental Europe on the whiteboard. The children must combine weather conditions with the different countries displayed on the board. For instance, today it is sunny in Finland and foggy in Denmark. This means the pupils combine the learning of English with geography.Welcome to Siltamaki primary school in Helsinki – a school with 240 seven- to 12-year-olds – which has embraced Finland’s new learning style. Its principal, Anne-Mari Jaatinen, explains the school’s philosophy: “We want the pupils to learn in a safe, happy, relaxed and inspired atmosphere.”We come across children playing chess in a corridor and a game being played whereby children rush around the corridors collecting information about different parts of Africa. Ms Jaatinen describes what is going on as “joyful learning”. She wants more collaboration and communication between pupils to allow them to develop their creative thinking skills.

How to pass exams – Part 20 Superman, Muhammad Ali and the air steward!

The heavyweight boxer Mohammed Ali was amazing,

I saw him in a Leeds bookshop a few years ago.

He is probably the greatest sports star of all time and was known to be quick witted. Interviewers loved him as he bragged about being the greatest, or “the champ”.

At the height of his career, he was on an aeroplane in First Class, with his people around him. Everyone was excited that Mohammed Ali was on the plane. The air steward was walking up the aisle checking that everyone had fastened their seat belts. She walked up and down the aisle, staring at everyone’s lap, double-checking the seat belts.

As she walked past Mohammed Ali she said

“Excuse me Mr Ali, can you put your seatbelt on please?”

Mohammed Ali said to her

“Superman doesn’t need a seat belt”.

Ouch!

But the air steward came back quickly and said

“Yes, Mr Ali, but Superman doesn’t need an aeroplane”!

I wish I’d been there!

She was super quick and left Muhammad Ali lost for words.

Superman’s a fictional alien from another planet – a made up comic character – he doesn’t exist and Superwoman don’t exist either.

We don’t have super powers – we can’t do this school/college thing on our own.

We must always take responsibility for our own success but we are also responsible for each other’s success too.

We can succeed together.

Because we contribute to everyone else’s success, the way you act in school; the way you behave in lessons; the way you are with your mates; the way you encourage your mates instead of putting them down, makes a big difference.

Then hundreds of people worked, prayed and hoped they would get back to the surface and on the 13th October 2010 (69 days later) the first miner Florencio Alvalos came back to the surface to hug his wife and his son.

It was truly amazing to watch. The world fixed its gaze on Chile as we saw every miner rescued safely.

Florencio said he didn’t want to celebrate until all 33 of them were back safely.

Probably the most amazing news story of recent years and it was filled with such hope, a real break from the doom and gloom of the normal news.

They all made it because they all got involved and even the engineers and families on the surface were just as much part of the rescue as the miners were themselves.

It’s like the whole of Chile contributed to their rescue.

They made it out because they were a team.

Hope kept them alive when many people said they wouldn’t make it.

You can make it too!

Honest :)

This an excerpt from Top UK motivational School Speaker Lee Jackson’s book “How To Enjoy And Succeed At School And College” Available in paperback and on Kindle (for only £1.99 during pre-exam time) here now.

How to pass exams – Part 19 – The 3R’s

“At the end of the day it’s really all about people.”Will Smith

Before we come in to land, there’s just one more tip to help you, one more thing that you may not hear very often, it’s what I call the 3R’s.The 3R’s aren’t Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, (spelt wrongly as they used to be in the 1950’s), but they stand for Relationships, Relationships and you’ve guessed it…Relationships.

Life is basically a network of relationships.

It doesn’t matter where you go, what you do, life is made up of relationships.

If you go to a shop and see a t-shirt that you want in blue but they only have it in black, you have to ask someone.

You don’t have to marry them or anything but you need to have a relationship with them to ask, it’s the same at home and with your mates in and out of school. Then of course there’s ‘going out’ with people – holdy handy, kissy kissy! Even when you go out to a restaurant, it’s always best to be nice to the waiter or waitress because if you aren’t, your food might come back with some “added extras!”

Wherever you chop life and however you look at it, it will always be about ‘relationships’.

There will always be a relationship that makes all the difference, ‘cos relationships are life, and if you put your relationships first, amazing things start to happen.

I’ll give you a cast iron guarantee right here, right now.

If you get on better with the people around you at school – you’ll do better in school.

If you can get on better with the staff in school then I guarantee that you will do better in school.

You will be more successful.

But, hey, don’t panic. No-one’s perfect, you’re not perfect because I know I’m not perfect, but if you prioritise your relationships what happens is very powerful, everything else seems to fall into place.

That’s how it’s meant to be, it’s how life works.

If I am getting on better with my wife and daughters at home I have a better day/week/month.

Relationships make a BIG, BIG difference to your life, in and out of school.

Challenging but true.

Relationships do seem complicated but they’re not really. We don’t have to be an expert we just have to be honest, learn to say sorry and try to be a fun, reliable person.

Two quick tips for your life at home, help around the house every now and again and tidy your room! Your life will be soooooo much quieter and enjoyable if you do these sorts of things.

The best thing I learnt in my marriage was to wash up!

Sorry to sound like a Dad – but I promise those tips will make your life much more fun.

Try it!

More to come…

This an excerpt from Top UK motivational School Speaker Lee Jackson’s book “How To Enjoy And Succeed At School And College” Available in paperback and on Kindle (for only £1.99 during pre-exam time) here now.

How to pass exams – Part 18 – Keep on going!!

“Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.”Josh Billings U.S. funny man (1818 – 1885)

In all the years I’ve been in education this one above all is important;

When wartime prime minister Winston Churchill visited Harrow, his former school, he made a famous and simple speech. After a year of war in which Britain had been bombed mercilessly by Adolf Hitler he said:

“…surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”

About a year earlier many people wanted to give up as it looked like Britain was losing the war, Winston Churchill’s guts was one of the reasons Britain made it through those tough years.

Sometimes I meet people in Year 11 or 13 who look ok but really some of them have given up inside.

After almost 14,000 hours of schooling some people seem to give up at the last hurdle. Sometimes just keeping on going is how you will be successful, it’s not magic, amazing or spectacular,it’s just about getting out of bed, going to school, putting one foot in front of the other and keeping on going.

It’s obviously important to work smart and get our priorities right but for many of us it is just about putting one foot in front of the other.

One of my favourite stories is the amazing resilience of a woman called Cha Sa-soon from Seoul in Korea.

In November 2009 she passed her written driving test, nothing spectacular but she had taken it 950 times! That means that 949 times she paid her money and faced nothing but rejection and frustration. But on the 950th time she passed!

She has not actually been in a car yet!

That’s just the exam so she can have a licence and now she’ll have to sit a practical driving test so she can drive. Speaking after her 775th failure she said: “I believe you can achieve your goal if you persistently pursue it…so don’t give up your dream…be strong and do your best.”

Great advice from someone who has done well.

My mum took 12 driving tests to pass. I’ve been in the car with her and that was about the right number!

I wonder how many tests Cha Sa-soon will take?

It’s just about keeping on going.

The left hand side of the above diagram might be where you are now,your goal might be to go to university or start the career of your choice. Some people will tell you that life travels easily in a happy straight line… but that’s not how it works. Sometimes we have a good day and a not so good day, a great week and a not so great week, a bit of dip here and there, but eventually you make it to your goal. Ultimately the difference between people who succeed at school and those who don’t is simply this, it’s what you do on your not so good days when things aren’t going quite so well that makes all the difference.

Don’t give up. You can do it!

Honestly you can!

More to come…

This an excerpt from Top UK motivational School Speaker Lee Jackson’s book “How To Enjoy And Succeed At School And College” Available in paperback and on Kindle (for only £1.99 during pre-exam time) here now.

How to pass exams – Part 17 – Join in the opportunity to serve and see your job prospects rise!

Over the summer and in the holidays what are you going to do which isn’t all about you, but is about serving others too?

Simon Glass is a former pupil of Allerton High School in Leeds and up and coming film-maker, but how did he get into it?

“I went on loads of work experience trips during the summer, I didn‘t get paid but I got to work on some short films and through that I met a famous Oscar winning film director called Anthony Minghella and I went to work for his company.”

Simon went to serve for free but it also helped him to get the next step on the ladder.

This is me on a clean-up day – three or four times a year youth groups from around Leeds hire a few skips and go to the toughest parts of our city, we clean up a few streets and serve the area, it’s great messy fun.

We don’t get anything for it, there’s no newspaper coverage, we just change a street for the day.

No-one talks to us at first but gradually people come out of their houses and talk to us, we put sofas in skips and pick up all sorts of unmentionable rubbish!

Why?

Because I believe that serving people makes us better humans, and that helps us to be the best we can be.

Who can you serve this week, in and out of school?

More to come…

This an excerpt from Top UK motivational School Speaker Lee Jackson’s book “How To Enjoy And Succeed At School And College” Available in paperback and on Kindle (for only £1.99 during pre-exam time) here now.

How to pass exams – Part 16 – Serving your fellow adventurers

“If there is one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view, and see things from that person’s angle, as well as from your own.”Henry Ford (the first person to make mass produced cars)

Gordon Brown was one of the most ridiculed and hated Prime Ministers of recent times, the media were always having a go at him saying crazy things like “He’s Scottish, he’s got a wrinkly face…and he can’t even smile properly!’ Poor man. Whichever way you may want to vote no-one can help what their face looks like! He was trying to steer us through the worst financial crisis since the Second World War but everyone seemed to hate him. It was a tough ride for him, but when Gordon Brown eventually resigned as the Prime Minister, he said ‘It was a privilege to SERVE as the Prime Minister of the UK’.

A privilege to serve? Eh?!

He didn’t have a go at anyone he just said, “It was a privilege to serve”.

I was amazed.

When Richard St. John did his research into ‘successful’ people, he found out that they all served others in some way.

What?

Aren’t successful people only out for themselves?

Serve wasn’t really a word I expected to see in his list, and to be honest it’s kind of unfashionable these days. Rarely mentioned, never mind promoted. Serve? What did they mean?

In order to be a successful human being we have to serve others in some way. I charge for what I do, that’s business, but I also give free advice too, because when you give something away I believe it is returned to you.

I speak at schools and businesses now, where in the past I helped them for free.

“What goes around comes around.”

“What you sow you reap.”

Imagine your favourite shop where the people serving you were only focused on themselves and not on you as a customer. What a horrible shop that would be. Rude and aloof staff; no returns or even help – maybe we’d buy something once from them, but we’d probably not go back there.

‘..I asked Ben Cohen (the co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream) what led to his success and he said “ I think I’m good at being able to put myself in the shoes of my consumer (i.e an ice cream eater!)’
(Ben comes up with all their new flavours)

Extract from “8 Traits Successful People Have In Common: 8 to be great” by Richard St. John 2010 ISBN 9780973900972

“put myself in their shoes…” sounds like serving to me.

When people are messing about in lessons and giving the teacher hassle, what would happen if they put themselves in the teacher’s shoes?

How would that make them feel?

Where do you serve?

Have a think.

More to come…

This an excerpt from Top UK motivational School Speaker Lee Jackson’s book “How To Enjoy And Succeed At School And College” Available in paperback and on Kindle (for only £1.99 during pre-exam time) here now.